If you have the vision to see how a wedding video can act as a catalyst in keeping your marriage alive. Being a constant reminder of the vows you made. How it will inspire your marriage to new heights year after year. And if you can see your wedding video being passed down from one generation to the next as a legacy, and how it will inspire your children and their children. And this is important to you. You are a visionary, read on.

The Motivation behind a wedding video. 1. To have an audio visual recording of possibly the most beautiful emotional experience of your lifetime. 2. To record your vows word for word, to see the sincerity and devotion in your eyes and hear the quiver in your voice when declaring your undying love for the man or woman of your dreams, before your loved ones. 3. This is the most significant turning point of your life. So that when played back, you may re-live the event in the same spirit that it took place, over and over for the rest of your life. These reasons are powerful, and I think you would agree.

It's Like Making a Movie To make a movie that will inspire you and your partner for the rest of your days demands you become equipped in understanding the process of making a wedding video.The Videographer The average Wedding Videographer today has the role of Camera Operator, Sound Engineer, Lighting Technician, Graphic Artist and Video Editor, all bundled into one person.

As camera person the videographer is an opportunist, there are no rehearsals or re-takes so he or she must get it right first time, and this takes years of experience and skill. Generally speaking, passion combined with knowledge, experience and an ability to recognize upcoming opportunities, videographers learn to cope in just about any given situation. But is that enough to make a great wedding video?

The Bride and Groom In movie making terms, you the bride and groom are director, producer, scriptwriter, and on top of all that, the lead actors of your own wedding video production.Planning The relationship between you, your Videographer and your Photographer needs to be positive, each with a yielding spirit towards the other, as each party has differing needs to produce their best. You should discuss the day's events with both photographer and videographer present if possible. Discuss the spaces and lighting conditions that they have to work in, where they may stand, and when may they move about to get new angles and differing light conditions etc. All this because your photographer will need to share the same space with the videographer and this definitely needs to be discussed with both parties present to ensure a harmonious relationship. It is advisable that they get on well and are able to work with each other. Lighting and space are top priorities in the minds of the photographer and the videographer, luxuries offered by few wedding chapels, especially those found at smaller wedding venues. If the Wedding Chapel designers were photographers or videographers things would look a lot different believe me, but they're not, so photographers and videographers need to improvise and work together under sometimes very challenging conditions.

A Wedding Video Script A script is basically a sequence of events. A typical script could look something like this.Pre-Ceremony Preparations The Bride

Note: Get the bridal car as it drives in to pick up Yolande. Shoot her climbing into car. (Practice climb in with dress if time allows)

Wedding day Location Visit Videographers are opportunists by default, most of the time working in unfamiliar spaces and lighting conditions, opportunities for a good take can be lost due to pressure and a lack of time to plan. If resources allow, it's not a bad idea to pay a visit with your videographer and photographer to the various shoot locations before the wedding day. (if possible at the same time of day that the actual events will take place). Various aspects concerning each scene, camera angle, sound, lighting, movement and other logistics can be discussed tested and planned for. Professional (those who do it for a living) videogaphers and photographers will charge an extra fee for a site visit. But also be warned, things don't always pan out as planned, for instance, the florist may put a huge flower stand where the photographer was supposed to stand when the rings are being exchanged. There could be a storm brewing with dark clouds and light levels drop down by half. But this is where experience comes into play (when things go wrong), as professional videographers and photographers need to improvise under all sorts of unexpected conditions. This is what we love to do and have learnt that most of the time plans don't pan out, so we adapt, changing the script on the hoof, as it were.

Wedding Video's that have Entertainment Value Your video may be excellent from a technical point of view, but without feeling, it will become to those who view it, a boring procession of expressionless people going through a lifeless ritual.

As the main actors in this 'reality style' movie, there are a few pointers I would like to share with you concerning your behavior towards the video camera on this day. Be true to your feelings and live them out, don't hide them, your body language must reflect your state of joy. Laugh, dance and cry for joy, let it out. The secret is simply, be what you feel inside, respond outwardly to the feelings in you. Yes, things do go wrong at weddings and brides and grooms do get upset by a horde of possible hiccups and or words that have been said by an insensitive family member. Rise above these, and refuse to have your joy stolen. If you allow these little things to affect your emotions negatively, this is what the camera will pick up.

Show Your feelings for each other Be affectionate towards your new partner, look deeply into his or her eyes from time to time. In your body language toward him or her, give him or her freedom to move, but stay warm and close. Be tender, touch with care, tend to his or her tiniest needs at all times, no matter how trivial it may seem, the camera will pick these up and they will be remembered. Try to be aware of where the camera is, don't turn your back on the camera unless it can't be helped. The First Kiss is a typical example, turn your body so that the camera can capture the kiss full on, the videographer could be stuck and unable to move his angle, it's your memory help to make it vivid. Factors that bring about an emotional response are fundamental to making a wedding video fly, one that will inspire you your children and your family for generations to come.

The art of video editing The adage of garbage in garbage out holds true when it comes to editing. A good Video Editor can only turn good raw footage into a masterpiece. If the Editor has a passion for editing, he or she could spend up to 30 hours working on a wedding video getting visuals, music, and live sound to work together like a symphony. Transitions and subtle editing effects can compliment good footage, but edit suite effects can't save a bad camera shoot. Over use of visual effects steal the viewers attention away from the video content. Remember your video is about your wedding day not about how many transition effects the editing suite has. If you look at any broadcast television or movies, they don't use editor effects, and there are good reasons why.

Camera and Sound Equipment Quality Image and sound quality are determined by the technology employed. Standards vary considerably and generally speaking in this respect 'you get what you pay for'.

Amateur Videographers A Wedding Videographer could be an amateur like your brother or uncle, and use a domestic camcorder, and at the end of all the festivities you receive a free tape out of the camera, not the ultimate, but at least you have something to remember your day by.

Semi Professional Videographers A semi professional or hobbyist may use slightly better camera than that used by your uncle or friend, and should at least edit the footage on entry level equipment for a small fee.

The Professional A professional Wedding Videographer is someone who makes a living out of making various video productions, as well as wedding videos. His equipment quality will be relative to how much business he can attract with his skills. At the same time I must add that good equipment does not equal a good video, it's always best to first see what skills combined with equipment is on offer before committing yourself to paying a deposit. Of late 3ccd high definition digital cameras which render excellent picture quality under low lighting conditions are within the price reach of the average Professional Wedding Videographer, this is the least you must expect from a Professional, if you are going to pay professional prices.

You have to see it this way, when you employ a Videographer, part of the price you are paying includes the cost of the equipment being employed, you are buying a piece of his equipment's limited life span, plus his skill of knowing how to best operate the equipment. Entry level professional PC based editing software systems are within the professionals reach financially. Today PC based editing packages are more than capable of producing professional results and are even being used by large video production houses.

Quality Generally speaking quality is the ability to meet expectations, a DVD as an end product does not equal quality content. Transferring footage from VHS or any other analogue or outdated format to DVD will only reproduce the quality it was recorded at, thus again giving true credence to garbage in garbage out cliché.

Videographer Skills Skill comes about when knowledge and experience are combined with a passion to excel at what you are doing, which is an article on it's own. But there is an extra characteristic needed to make an excellent wedding videographer, and that is patience and a love for people.

So then how much should you pay Why are some videographers cheap and others expensive? I frequently hear being asked. Price is very much a reaction to supply and demand for scarce resources. For example, the videographer who creates entertaining visuals by way of knowledge skill and experience is providing a scarce resource and therefore his price will be higher as demand for his or her work will be high.

On the other hand there's also the question of how much the market (that's you) is prepared to pay. Look around if you can, people take chances in all walks of life, and be sure you compare video's in the same price class.

Videographer Relationship A friendly warm relationship with your Videographer will make the difference between a cold impersonal and a warm personal wedding video. Spend time with a few videographers talking about your day, get to know each other to see if an open relationship can evolve. Society conditions us to be suspicious of strangers and this affects our behavior and barriers toward them, break these down. You must become comfortable with your Videographer being around so that you can be relaxed in your private space with him or her being in the vicinity. Embarrassment and tension is hard to hide from a video camera. You must be comfortable. You don't want to be sending the wrong signals to the cameraman or woman because you don't like the Videographer. Have fun making your video which won't be too hard to do, and your video will be fun to watch. *Copyright" This Article may be freely distributed however all links and references to the author must be kept intact. The author maintains copyright on this articles and by giving free distribution rights does not revoke or nullify such copyright privileges.

About the Author:

I entered the wedding industry professionaly in 1995 operating as a photographer/videographer/dj/planner. Throughout this time I have recorded and been involved with countless weddings. I also head up a wedding designer company "Yes I do Events"